Coupling



J. CODER Dec. 18, 1934.

COUPLING Filed Sept. 10, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet l J. CODER Dec. 18, 1934.

COUPLING Filed Sept. 10, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. CODER Dec. 18, 1934.

COUPLING Filed Sept. 10, 1,932

6 Sheets-Sheet 3 J. CODER Dec. 18, 1934.

COUPLING Filed Sept. 10, 1952 6 Sheets-Shet 4 Dec. 18,1934. J, com r 1,984,918

COUPLING Filed Sept. 10, 1932 6 SheetsSheet 5 Dec. 18, 1934.

COUPLING Filed Sept. 10, 1932 6 Sheet t 6 plingsoi'the automatic type wherein Patented Applications vember 2 1 7 Dec. 18, I934 7 ,ooUPLmG -f,

Joseph CodeligpMarsei lle,

'Al a'pl ication septembermiasz, Serial No. mm I 1 ,In France November 21, 1931 I.

(01.1etc- 2x15)j' A I I have been filed in France on Noand 30,1931 and February 23, 1932 and in qi eat Britain onJune "1932. I

The p 'esent invention relates to ball and socket v ,5 couplings; n ore particularly tractor-trailer co mjeinber comprises;

the socket two 'or more relatively movable parts 'so' arranged that they open automatidaily to admit 'quentlyrclosed j lflt is known in connemembers. of this type the hall member and are subse andflocked in position.

ion "ith ball and socket to 'provide the vehicle car the socketof the coupling with a guide surface whichiacilitates the entry of the ball head into the socket; ityt o'fthe socket is 'i lower level l q o r v In, .ebovet ype condition of the coupling posedro'd or'stem member,

'ahd the bottom" of the 'cavsuch constructions at a, than the top edge of the guide surmefkiioitn hall and socket couplings of the the ball head is carried in the. closed by va, i'le r'ticelly disand is engaged by the "socket on both sides' or the longitudinal mosjor said member -and usually. also.

at the base. ho-

cordin'gt tothe inventionfthe stem orf'arnl carry ing the. ball head notfverticaliy closed condition of the coupling;

horizontal vantage of force is transmitted fromv disposed, the but. isjinclined gotv e very considerable angle to the verticalgflbe i se H v than tothevertical position. The adpreierably- I arrangedv nearer" to" the thiserrangement is that thetnoctiive thetractor to thetialiler in a. more. satisfactory manner and thot fi e cti re of the ball headis less likely to. occur the r coupling and normalopeifatioh.

I Theinvention alsotwwis s in subsi ies-t res tures, substantially asgsetiorth in the particu- I lat; description and in the Jappended claims;

The acco example tw plingr Fig. 1 is of the coupling in which the socket and z -the mpainyins dr gs show; b lw av; of o constructions of the improved couim' tissues of the first ctssmsttm mo'Vable sector thereof ,'eswel1'as' the lockingfdevice, are shown in the-open positionreedyior effecting the coupling. I Fig. 2 shows the parts offthe coupling the p'o'sition which they assume'when the draw-heed begins to depress the movable secto'r of the socket fat the commencement of the auton oticcoupling operationg' 3 shows t s um- T, ab e sewe the parts in the position which e at'themoment in which the movot the socket is in the e1osing posi- Figuflsho v the operative position.

1* Referring fhst to tion-and the locking device is ready to lockthe movable sector in the closing p'osition.

Fig. 41sh'ows thesector loclcd by the locking device, the coupling being now completely closed and lockedg' I Fig. 5 shows'the' oortsin the position into which they v aze 'bz oughtjust before the release of the coupling. 1

' Fig. 6 showfs thel'paits in the position in which the head is' 'being drawh out or: the socket.

Fig. 7 is a plan-of thecoupling shown in the previous Fig. 8 shows dia grarnmoticelly iin; afrangement the release of the couplingsdoipted to be FIg 10 shows the parts infthe position immediotely preceding the automatic closing ofthe upn v 1": i". '1 \I I .I H

the couplingclosed-and looked in Fig; 12 showsthe couplin'gstill closed; but the leasing the coupling, I

iociindevice openedifo'rfl the-purpose ife of re- Fig 13" jshfws the'f couplingf released, but with the qball -shaped headfstill vvithin the movable sector. I

Fig. 14, is a sectional elevation of'the bollsheped draw headvvit hout hh internal plug constituting the exchangeable and sdjustoblejwearling m m fiT-ih.

:1; 825 5f io fin, b omli e q view an internol'plug which constitutesthe adjuStable and xehangeaple' weenh gme e;- of

the head;

I Fig.16 v fhead with the internal plug forming theadjustshows in sectional elevation thecomplete epic and exchange hle wearing member, and" ctional eievotiona modified a; boll bearing is associated marpiug.

with the hit" v the eo pimg' amprises aspheriad socket-having thepseme thebollshaped flrawhead 3. :The' socket comprises a, l'ovvei centrelsector shaped section-'9 which is 'odap'ted to turnebout'opivot 4 fit).- "The sector '9 is formed with an arm 11 upon I vvhich aets alretum spring 12 fixed atthe other endto The sector has a projection 13 odaotedto co-operate' with s projectionM of a Wee. th We; moiste e with a handle 15 and with two return springs 17, the ends 16 of these return springs acting upon two lateral arms of the handle 15 (see Fig. 7) and the other ends of the return springs being fixed to the frame at 22.

The lower part of the cavity of the socket upon which the ball head 3 rests in its operative position, is arranged at a slightly lower level than the surface v'vhich guides the ball-shaped draw' head into engagement with the socket, this difierence in the level of the guide surface and the lower end of the socket increasing the safety of opera tion of the coupling. The socket is integral with or fixed to a casing 18 by means of which it is held in the frame of the tractor. A guide member 20 which may have a semi-cylindrical shape at its end adjacent to the socket of a radius. slightly larger than the ball-shaped head 3, servesfor facilitating the entry of the head into the socket as well as the removal of the head from the socket during the 'couplingand uncoupling operations.

The couplingoperation takes place in the following manner. The trailer stands still and the tractor is backed into the trailer in such manner that thewdraw -head 3- enters the guide member 20 (Fig. 1) ;-During. the further backing movement of the tractor the head 3 (FigsL Z and 9) comes into contact with the movable sector 9 of the socket and causes the latter to turn about its pivot 10. During this movement in the direction of arrow 13, the projection 13 strikes the projection le of the-locking memberl lfv and causes the locking member'l" to turn about its pivot 21, thereby tensioning the return spring 17. It will .be-seen that this return spring 1'7 is so arranged relatively to its point .of attachment22 that it can be used for holding the locking device and the handle 15"thereofboth in theposition which it assumes whilst locking the head 3-and that which it assumes for unlocking the .head 3, these positions being shown in Figs. 1 and 5.

During the further backing movement of the tractor (Figs. 3 and 10;), the extreme edge of the projection 13 reaches the extreme edge of the projection 14 atthe point 23 and immediately afterwards the projection 13 clears the projection 14. At this moment, the springs 17 rapidly act gupon the locking member 14; and movethe pro- .vjection 14 so as to lock the sector 9. in the closing position. It will be seen from Fig. 4 that the bearing'surfaces e f the-projections 13 and 14 in the looking position arevery large, being of the same curvature. The sector 9 .is now locked and the coupling has "been automatically closed" by the turningofthe sector 9 about the pivot 19 and by the turningof the locking member about its pivot 21, this position being shown i'n Figs. iand 11.

It may be pointed out that in this position the socket sector 9 bears firmly again sta stationary abutment 9',fo wi ng to the load acting upon the sector. Owing to the resistancewhich the tractor has to overcome ,the head 3 bears against the rear portion of the sector 9 and consequently'the latter has the tendency to turn upwards about its pivot .10. This causes the sector to bear with increased pressure against the locking member 14" against which it abuts. It will beseen thatconseguently the higher the resistance offeredv to the traction, the more effective will be the locking action and lso the action bywhich the head is held within the socket. It will thus be seen that an accidental .opening orrelease of the coupling is quite impossible as such a release could take place only ifthe to the frequent operations of coupling and unlocking, projeotionr li of the locking member 14 did not exist. The improved coupling device provides locking surfaces of such size that fracture of the locking parts and accidental release of the coupling are entirely out of the question.

With the parts in the closed and locked position, it will be seen that the coupling provides a universal joint of very considerable amplitude in all the required directions. A tractor and trailer connected by this coupling may turn, relatively to each other through an angle up to 100 Tori either side of the longitudinal axis (see Fig. 7)

The operation of releasing the coupling takes place as follows:-

The trailer stands still. The handle 15 is raised by hand, or in the case of the auxiliary device shown in Fig. 8, by a pedal 26, into the position shown in Figs. and 12. In this position of the handle 15 the stop 14 of the locking member 14' ,is removed from the stop 13 of the sector 9. The

springs 17 hold the handle 15 in this vertical position. The parts being provisionally set-in this manner, the tractor moves forward,'that isaway from the trailer and the head 3 of the coupling causes the socket sector9 to rise by turning about its pivot 10 (see Figs. 6 and 1 3).. During this movement, an edge 24 of the sector 9 encounters a projection 14' of the locking member and lifts said projection, whereby the handle15 is moved to the left in the direction of the arrow 25. The angle through which the handle is moved is. so

calculated that the springs 1'? are brought into such a position as to complete the'return movement of the handle 15 into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 9. 'It willbe understood that the springs 17 begin to act immediately after the edge trailer.

parts of the coupling upon the tractor are ready The spherical head 3 is carried by an arm 27 i which is fixed to the trailer. The sphericalhead i'slprovided with a vertical bore for the reception 'ofa'plu'g 28 (Fig. 15), the smooth lower portion of which is rounded at 29, the radius of curvature fof the rounded portion being the same as that of the ball 3. The plug 28 is held in the ball 3 by screw threads and is secured against rotation by a steel blade 30 the ends of'which enter under the action of a setscrew 31 into the internalscrew wear than the other bearing surfaces of the ball 3. It will be understoodthat when the bearing surface 29 has slightly worn away,--the clamping further home for the purpose of adjustingthe wearing surface 29 and bringsame again into contact with the socket.

Fig. 17 shows a slightly modified construction '9 in which a ball bearing is interposed between'the adjustable plug and the'socket. This ball'bearing consists of a large ball resting upon a row of small balls.

It has been found in actual practice that owing coupling, a somewhat rapid and localized wear screw' 31 is loosened and theplug 28 is screwed takes place at the point of contact of the ball head 3 with the guide surface which is provided for facilitating the entry of the ball head into the socket. The frequent rubbing of the ball head against the guide surface leads to a flattening at the bottom of the ball, and consequently the ball surface becomes inactive at the most important point at which the load is taken. As it is impossible to grind the ball in order to restore its spherical shape, it is necessary with ordinary ball heads to replace entirely the ball head after a short time. This drawback is, according to the invention avoided by the provision of the plug 28 which by its adjustability within the bore 4 enables rapid wear to be quickly compensated for. If necessary the rounded portion 29 of the plug may, of course, be re-shaped should it wear away in an irregular manner, for instance, if it should become flat. Even if it should be necessary to replace the whole plug, the cost of replacement is much smaller than in the case of ordinary ball heads.

It may be pointed out that as the plug 28 is of ordinary shape, it may be made of any suitable, for instance, very hard, metal and it may be afterwards further treated with a view to increasing its hardness and thus reduce its wearto a minimum. r

The improved coupling forming the subject of the invention may be used for various kinds of tractors and trailers and is adapted to various kinds of vehicles owing to the very small number of constituent parts. An important advantage of the coupling is that it gives complete freedom of movement of the two coupled vehicles relatively to each other within very wide angles both horizontally and vertically.

It will be understood that various changes in detail may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A coupling of the ball and socket type, comprising in combination: a ball head: a socket having a pivoted movable portion which is adapted topermit in its open position of the entry of the ball head into the socket and serves in its closed position for holding the ball head in the socket; automatic means for locking the movable socket portion in the closed position, said movable socket portion and said ball head being so arranged relatively to each other that the movable socket portion is moved by the ball head from the open into the closed position during the entry of the ball head into the socket, and is also moved from the closed position into the open position during the removal of the ball head from the socket; a guide surface for facilitating the entry of the ball head into and the removal or the ball head from the socket, said guide surface having a top edge adjacent to the socket arranged at a higher level than the bottom of the cavity of the socket; spring means acting upon the movable socket portion to hold same in contact with the ball head; said automatic means for locking the movable socket portion comprising in combination: a catch; spring means adapted to hold the catch both in the locking and in the inoperative position, and manual means for setting the spring catch from the looking position into the inoperative position prior to the release of the coupling, and means upon the movable socket portion for moving the spring catch from the inoperative position towards the operative position during the movement of the movable socket portion from the closed into the open position, substantially as described.

2. A coupling for vehicles of the ball and socket type comprising in combination: a ball head carried by an inclined arm; a socket arranged substantially symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of said inclined arm, said socket having a pivoted movable portion to enable the ball head to enter the socket; and automatic means for looking the movable socket portion in the closing position, said locking means consisting of a catch which is actuated by one spring in two opposite directions and is moved by that spring both into the locking position and into a completely inoperative position, the initial movement of the catch from the locking position towards the inoperative position being effected by the operator, substantially as described.

3. A coupling for vehicles of the ball and socket type comprising in combination: a ball head carried by an inclined arm; a socket arranged substantially symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of said inclined arm and provided with a pivoted movable portion which in the open position permits the ball head to enter the socket and in the closed position holds the ball head in the socket; a guide surface for guiding the ball head into the socket; and automatic means for locking the movable socket portion in the holding position, said locking means consisting of a catch which is actuated by one spring in two opposite directions and is moved by that spring both into the locking positionand into a completely inoperative position, the initial movement of the catch from the locking position towards the inoperative position being efiected by the operator, substantially as described.

4. A coupling for vehicles of the ball and socket catch; operator-controlled means for setting said spring catch; spring means for holding said spring catch in the locking position and also for holding said spring catch in, the set inoperative position; and means on the movable socket portion for moving the spring catch part of the way from the inoperative position towards the operative position; substantially as described.

. 5. A coupling for vehicles of the ball and socket type comprising in combination: a ball head carried by an arm inclined at an acute angle to the horizontal; a socket arranged substantially'symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of said inclined arm and having a pivoted movable portion which in the open position permits of the entry of the ball head into the socket'and in the closed position holds the ball head in the sockets; automatic means for locking the pivoted movable socket portion in the closed position; and a stop located vertically below the centre of the socket, which holds the, movable socket portion in the closed position, said stop serving also to receive the load, substantially as described.

JOSEPH .CODER. 

